International angiology : a journal of the International Union of Angiology
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Multicenter Study
Thirty-year experience of transaxillary resection of first rib for thoracic outlet syndrome.
Thoracic outlet syndrome is an important clinical entity, which usually affects young patients and working cohort, causing disability if unrecognized and untreated. Although treatment is commonly conservative, in patients with more severe disease, surgical treatment is often required for decompression. Purpose of this paper was to evaluate the surgical and clinical outcomes of patients who underwent first rib resection through transaxillary approach for thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) during a period of 30 years. ⋯ In our experience first rib resection through the transaxillary approach is a safe and feasible procedure associated with an acceptable rate of peri-operative morbidity and satisfactory long-term relief of symptoms.
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Multicenter Study
Socioeconomic characteristics of patients undergoing ambulatory diagnostic cerebral angiography in four US States.
Several groups have demonstrated the safety of ambulatory cerebral angiography, with no patients experiencing complications related to early discharge. Although this practice appears to be safe, the socioeconomic characteristics factoring in the selection of the patients have not been investigated. ⋯ Access to ambulatory diagnostic cerebral angiography appears to be more common for patients with private insurance and less comorbidities, in the setting of lower volume hospitals. Further investigation is needed in the direction of mapping these disparities in resource utilization.
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Multicenter Study
A survey of contemporary opinions and practices of surgical and intensive care specialists towards peri-operative venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in Asia.
This survey was conducted to determine the opinions and practices of peri-operative venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis among surgical and intensive care specialists in Asia. ⋯ Despite the availability of strong epidemiological data, randomized controlled trials and multicentre case-controlled studies, perioperative VTE prophylactic practices are still suboptimal in Asia.
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Multicenter Study
Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and iron deposition on susceptibility-weighted imaging in patients with multiple sclerosis: a pilot case-control study.
Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a vascular phenomenon recently described in multiple sclerosis (MS) that is characterized by stenoses affecting the main extracranial venous outflow pathways and by a high rate of cerebral venous reflux that may lead to increased iron deposition in the brain. Aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CCSVI and iron deposition in the brain of MS patients by correlating venous hemodynamic (VH) parameters and iron concentration in deep-gray matter structures and lesions, as measured by susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), and to preliminarily define the relationship between iron measures and clinical and other magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes. ⋯ The findings from this pilot study suggest that CCSVI may be an important mechanism related to iron deposition in the brain parenchyma of MS patients. In turn, iron deposition, as measured by SWI, is a modest-to-strong predictor of disability progression, lesion volume accumulation and atrophy development in patients with MS.
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The aim of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of the concomitant use of endovenous laser treatment (ELT) and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy (USGFS) in the management of chronic venous disorder and to objectively analyze the influence of the combination therapy on the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) of the treated patients. ⋯ Ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy given concomitantly with ELT is safe and highly efficacious in the management of GSV, SSV reflux and in their tributaries or in non-saphenous veins. CVD patients treated with combination therapy given in this manner demonstrated significant improvement in their HRQL.